Opponents to a second runway at Gatwick have said the airport should be embarrassed by the strength of opposition to the plans after the results of a public consultation were announced.

The consultation, carried out by Ipsos MORI, revealed that the majority of respondents were against all options for a new runway laid out by Gatwick.

Of those who responded, 194 people were in favour of Gatwick’s option 1, which is a 585m runway south of the existing one.

The number was even lower for option 2, with only 167 people in favour of a new 1,045m runway, also to the south of the existing runway, with one used for landings and the other used for take-offs.

There was more support for option 3, with 733 respondents in favour of having two runways both used for take-offs and landings.

However the vast majority, 6,200, said that they were in favour of none of these options, with the Gatwick Area Conservation Campaign (GACC) saying that this result was embarrassing for Gatwick.

A spokesman for GACC, said: “This result is so embarrassing for Gatwick Airport Ltd that they have done all they can to conceal it.

"They did not mention it to the airport consultative committee or to the press. In their report to the Airports Commission it only appears in a pi chart on page 50, nowhere in the text.”

GACC have accused Gatwick of claiming that 4,003 responses to the public consultation were the result of a campaign by the Woodland Trust, and could therefore be discounted.

The spokesman added: “We do not agree, many of these responses contained specific comments and were thus not just the result of clicking a button. They are a foretaste of the nationwide opposition to any new runway.

"Even leaving out the Woodland Trust responses, twice as many people voted for ‘none of these options’ as voted for all three runway options combined.”

Gatwick Airport (Image: Skyport)

A Gatwick spokesman said: “The airport’s expansion debate is of national significance but we are determined to be a good neighbour and listen to the views of those communities close to home.

"Expansion is always going to generate strong views but what is important is that public consultation process has allowed us to understand the key areas that matter most to local people.

"As a result we have been able to create a series of pledges worth over £250 million which are designed to address these concerns and drive improvements to our plans.

“The Airports Commission will hold a national consultation in the autumn on the options for airport expansion so there will continue to be opportunities for local residents to have their say on the plans.”

In response to the Surrey Advertiser’s questions about the Woodland’s Trust campaign, the spokesman said: “As per standard practice with consultations, duplicated or identical responses submitted via the same response channel are not included in final tallies.

"Of the Woodland Trust campaign responses, 1,250 contained additional comments which were coded and analysed separately. Full details of responses from the Woodland Trust are included and reported in the Gatwick consultation document.”

GACC also claims that in the consultation, 761 people agreed a new runway would benefit the local economy but 2,020 felt that it would not benefit them much.